Larson captures Nationwide race

Larson captures Nationwide race

1of2Kyle Larson raced to his second Nationwide Series victory of the season Saturday, holding off two Sprint Cup drivers at Charlotte Motor Speedway.Photo: Jerry Markland / Getty Images

2of2CHARLOTTE, NC - MAY 24: A young fan holds an American flag during the NASCAR Nationwide Series History 300 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 24, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Sarah Glenn/Getty Images)Photo: Getty Images

Larson raced to his second Nationwide Series victory of the season Saturday, holding off Sprint Cup drivers Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“It was nice looking in the rear view mirror and seeing them get smaller and smaller,” Larson said. “It's not often the 22 and 54 cars are getting smaller in your mirror.”

The 21-year-old Larson, also the winner at Fontana, passed Keselowski on the 118th lap in the 200-lap race and led the rest of the way.

Keselowski was second, followed by Busch, Kevin Harvick and Brian Scott.

It was Larson's first victory at Charlotte.

The win came on car owner Chip Ganassi's 56th birthday, and one week after Sprint Cup teammate Jamie McMurray won the All-Star race.

“It sounds like he is having a great month,” Larson said about Ganassi. “I know he's really excited about the Indianapolis 500 and I think Jamie and I both have a good chance to win here” on Sunday at the Coca Cola 600.

Larson said the win will give him some momentum heading into the Coca-Cola 600, but admitted there isn't much he can carry over from the Nationwide race.

“It's a different race in Sprint Cup,” said Larson, who has never won at the top level. “On Sunday we will start in daylight and go through the night.”

Larson had to beat Harvick on a restart with 29 laps to go and was never challenged after that.

That left Keselowski and Busch battling for second.

Keselowski joked that “Kyle (Busch) and I had a great race” but said he simply couldn't come close to catching Larson.

“We just didn't have enough to run with him,” Keselowski said.

Chase Elliott surrendered the Nationwide points lead after finishing 37th when a broken suspension caused his car to crash into the outside wall on Lap 86.

Regan Smith, who finished seventh, took the points lead — five points ahead of Elliott Sadler.

Busch was the heavy favorite coming in after winning the previous three Nationwide races at Charlotte and eight times overall at the track in the series. He started on the pole and bolted out of the gates to an early lead.

But after a caution on lap 23, Matt Kenseth beat Busch off the restart and Busch eventually fell back to 11th and never challenged for the lead again.